The device for single-photon detection is known [“Avalanche photodiodes and quenching circuits for single-photon detection”, S. Cova, M. Ghioni, A. Lacaita, C. Samori and F. Zappa APPLIED OPTICS Vol. 35 No. 12 20 Apr. 1996], the known device comprises a silicon substrate with an epitaxial layer made on it, said layer having on a surface a small (10-200 microns) region (a cell) of conductive type that is opposite to the given layer conductive type. The cell is supplied with reverse bias that exceeds breakdown voltage. When a photon is absorbed in this region the Geiger discharge takes place, said discharge is limited with an external damping resistor. Such single-photon detector has high light detection efficiency, however it has a very small sensitive region, and also it is not able to measure the light flux intensity. In order to eliminate these defects it is necessary to use a large number (≧103) of such the cells located on a common substrate having ≧1 MM2 of square. In this case each cell works as the above described photon detector, the device as a whole detects light intensity that is proportional to the number of the worked cells.
The device described in RU 2086047 C1, pub. 27 Jul. 1997, is accepted as the nearest prior art for the silicon photoelectric multiplier. The known device comprises a silicon substrate, a plenty of cells which sizes are 20-40 microns and which are located on a surface of said substrate in an epitaxial layer. A layer of special material is used as a damping resistor. Defects of this device are the following:                decreasing short-wave light detection efficiency due to light absorption in the resistive layer;        insufficiently high long-wave light detection efficiency because of a small depth of the sensitive region;        availability of the optical connection between adjacent cells resulting in that the secondary photons appear in the Geiger discharge when one cell works, said photons can initiate actuation (lighting) of the adjacent cells. As a number of such photons is proportional to coefficient of amplification, this phenomenon limits the coefficient of amplification, efficiency, and single-electron resolution of the device. Furthermore the optical connection creates the excess noise factor, that degrades the ideal Poisson statistical characteristics and ability to account a small number of photons;        technological complexity of resistive layer coating.        
The technical effect is to raise the efficiency of light detection in a broad band of wave lengths with the coefficient of amplification up to 107 due to increasing cell sensitiveness, to achieve high single-electron resolution, and to repress the excess noise factor.
The single cell structure (about 20 microns of the size) which is made in a thin epitaxial layer and which provides the uniformity of the electrical field in a depletion layer having about 1 micron of depth is accepted as the nearest prior art for the cell of the silicon photoelectric multiplier. The cell structure provides a low working voltage (M. Ghioni, S. Cova, A. Lacaita, G. Ripamonti “New epitaxial avalanche diode for single-photon timing at room temperature”, Electronics Letters, 24, No 24 (1988) 1476). The defect of the known cell is insufficient detection efficiency of the long-wave part of the spectrum (≧450 microns).
The technical effect is to raise the light detection efficiency in a broad band of wave lengths due to increased cell sensitiveness, to achieve the high single-electron resolution.